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Swiss hydrogen-powered train sets 1741-mile record for nonstop travel
(interestingengineering.com)
this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2024
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Technology
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Save the hydrogen for better suited use-cases - trains are easily electrified and should be running on catenaries.
For regional train lines/freight lines full electrification isn't feasible due to the length of track, diesels still rule the train world because of this
I honestly think this is just cheaping out, and I bet electrification will pay off on a long enough horizon.
Fwiw, I think basically all of Sweden where I live is electrified - 80% of the rails, with the 20% principally being a freight line in the far north used for the purposes of transporting ore from the mines.
It works great for European countries sure, but when it costs roughly $5 million per kilometre to electrify track and there are for example 800kms between Melbourne and Sydney, the cost just gets astronomical, not to mention the headaches of getting 1000V DC across that distance.
A self-sustaining vehicle is really important for big countries with long inter-country rail lines that have no support infrastructure for hundreds of kilometres